The Mercenary
by ReaperOfEarthland
Summary: Everybody knows that Natsu gained his last name and his magic from Igneel, the fire dragon that raised him. But what would have happened if Natsu wasn't taken in by Igneel? What would have happened if he grew up facing the brutally cold part of the world since young? With a past only known by him, and with those Fairy Tail mages bumping into him at every turn what will happen?
1. Chapter 1

**The Mercenary**

 **Chapter 1**

Dark, menancing boots slammed down into the muddy earth, the dark matter sticking to them. The rain washed away at it, again, and again, step after step. The black cloak, that covered the wearer to the knees offered little protection against the rain and wind, being ragged, ripped apart in battles from many years before.

The cold earthen path leading through the treeline was the only way for the traveler to follow. But the conditions of his travel was one taken with little to no interest, for him, a general occurance. He walked forward, seemingly wearing a colder air than the one around him.

But the traveller's misfortune seemed to end, as in the distance, sticking out of the trees, was placed a large cabin. It had 2 floors, and was wide and imposing, with no windows in sight, except for one at the very top, in the middle of the building.

A sign had been carved above the cabin's door, with it's name being uttered by the wanderer, as if recalling many things.

"Ignis..." He exhaled a rather large sigh, while looking at the inn in front of him, as if questioning his reasons of coming here.

Shaking his head, he stepped forward and opened the door.

The first floor was rather normal looking, the typical tavern. A bar, plenty of barrels of cheap booze, a number of tables and chairs, with plenty of people now staring at him.

His eyes seemed to light up, a silent warning filled with so much ill intent, that all of the people previously staring, averted their sight, choosing to stare at anything else other than him.

The wanderer was satisfied, looking at the mass of people in the tavern, his dominance asserted. With that in mind, and with the safety that none of them would try anything, he walked towards the bar with long strides, before plopping himself on a bar-stool.

Looking up, he saw the barmaid finish sweet-talking someone out of their money, before she switched her attention to him. Something seemed to click within her mind, as if she recognized him, as she excused herself from the love-struck client, and made her way to him. Getting closer, she leaned onto the bar, staring at the stranger's hood, while filling a glass with an alchoolic liquid, the color of pale gold.

His favourite drink here.

Taking the glass from her hand, he emptied it in one go, feeling the burn inside his throat. Setting it back onto the counter, he didn't push it towards the barmaid, for a re-fill. Instead, he only planted a few coins on the bar, and stared back at the barmaid, who giggled while looking at him.

She was a fairly beautiful woman, with long brown hair, dark eyes, tanned skin, wearing a simple long dress, most surely not made for her job, but to look good. A red scar crossed over her right cheek, adding a roguish sense of danger to the woman, and making her seem younger than she was.

'Again, she always hid her age well, and that only helped sweet-talk the clients for their money.' The stranger mused to himself, at the fact that the woman nearing her fourties could actually pass as being in her young twenties, and charm guys half her actual age.

It was then that the woman started speaking.

"My, my, my, what brings the big, bad _Blaze Demon_ around these parts, forgotten by the world?"

Then, she leaner over more, giving him an ample view of cleaveage from the low-cut dress, and whispered into his ear.

"Do you know what they say about you these days?"

She paused for a second, as if wanting to see his reaction before she told him, but only received a deadpan, which caused her to pout.

"Ruin my fun, why don't you?"

Rolling her eyes, she continued, not expecting any remark from the person in front of her.

"They say you can do _anything_ for the right price. You've become quite a legend since you left this place, haven't you?"

The stranger took his hood off, revealing pink hair, black eyes, and a large scar stretching from above his right eye, over it, over the bridge of his nose, and finally reaching his lower cheek.

"Natsu." The barmaid finished, saying his name for the first time.

Not even acknowledging her use of his name, and instead, opting to finally push his glass towards him, for a re-fill, which the barmaid complied with.

Taking a small sip of it this time, to enjoy the taste, he sat the glass down.

"I just had a mission around these parts, and stopped by, until the storm picked up. That's all, don't fancy yourself special."

The barmaid just grinned again, looking at him amused.

"I knew you cared!"

A snort was her only answer.

Taking another sip, this time slightly larger than the previous one, he asked the first question that popped into his mind.

"How's the old man?"

Apparently, it had been the wrong question to ask, as the barmaid winced.

'Ah... I see...'

Looking at the glass in his hand, he knocked back the drink, setting the glass aside.

"For how long?"

"A little bit over a year."

The response had been a little bit too quick, he figured she would already have been prepared for that question.

He sighed heavily again, staring at the now empty glass on the bar.

"I couldn't find anyone to send you the news. The burial was made a day after. It's in the backyard..."

Natsu understood quite feel what she implied, _'You can go pay your respects, just don't get seen by anyone.'_

He nodded, to show his appreciation to her, turned around and left, uttering his goodbye.

"I guess we won't see eachother for a while now Camille...Do your best."

Slinging the hood back onto his head, he left the bar, an overwhelming silence pressing the inn, as his aura became colder and colder.

Camille's final goodbye was lost into his stray thoughts, and will probably be remembered later.

Now he had an old friend to visit.

Exiting the inn, he stuck to the shadows as he neared the backyard, before coming to view.

It was a large clearing made by man, tree stumps lying around still rooted. Natsu lightly traced the edge of one, recalling happy memories of him and the old man working here.

Moving forward, with no path inscribed, he only walked towards where he knew the old man's grave would be.

Reaching a small bump of earth which he walked up with steady legs, he reached the place.

On top of the small hill was ever-present, the one tree that Natsu had been forbidden from touching will ill intent. He still remembered the old man showing it to him for the first time.

 _'Laddie, this is the one tree in this entire forest that you can't cut, mistreat or harm. It's because this sakura tree was planted by my wife, and it's my last memory of her, you hear? It's the tree where I decided that when I die, I'll be buried under. Now go help the lass with the bar, will ya'?'_

Smiling, he looked at the base of the tree, and spotted what he was looking for.

Stepping forward, his hand brushed against the cold stone, reading the inscription of the gravestone.

 _Here lies Rudeus Vranko_

 _Caring and Loving Father_

 _x703-x782_

Looking with cold dead eyes at the gravestone, he started talking.

"Hey there old man...I'd ask how you are doing, but I doubt you can answer, so I'll tell you what i've been up to for the last 5 years."

Taking a deep breath, he started telling his story.

"Ever since I've left, I've started to understand how the world works, how everything that I wondered about before, and raged about nothing making sense, tied itself together. It's been an eventfull 5 years, in which I have had plenty of both good and bad.

I won't start enumerating everything I've done, since unfortunately, while you have all the time in the world, I don't...

I've had some run-ins with dark mages, demons, and a troublesome guild named Fairy Tail. They're an annoying bunch, filled with morons that spout of friendship, and stuff like that... But they mean well.

All those adventures left me with, as you would say, the _scars for the ladies..."_

Natsu chuckled emptily, before he snuffed it out, like a campfire.

"But it also gave me experience, and more problems than I care to count. I also got a little brat which I taught for a little while. She has some serious drive, and talent for the sword. Her name is Kagura.

I basically became a sword-for-hire guy, Not for money, not for contacts, I just travel the world and pick a mission or two where I go to provide me enough money for living expenses, but with how much i generally get for a mission, I reckon i will only need to work for one more year until I don't need to anymore for the next 10. But I probably won't stop doing it, need to keep my skills sharp.

You taught me as much, and believe me..."

Grasping firmly behind his head, he pulled out from under the cloak a greatsword.

Grey, with a long, but tin handle, it was nearly 1 meter and a quarter long, and weighing well over 60 kilograms. No other markings were specific, it was simple, made to do work, made with precise craftsmanship, and more importantly made with a single goal in mind, and that was to kill anything considered a threat.

"This won't be getting rusty anytime soon, and neither will I.

Sheathing back the sword, he wiped a lone tear out of his eyes, and then turned around to leave, the same cold look as before settling in his eyes.

It was then that he saw it, out of the corner of his eye, the moving shadow.

'It's already time huh?'

Nodding one last time at the grave, a sign of respect, he ran into the forest as fast as he could as the sun started setting. Seeing this only made him run faster, as the shadow followed him, soon being joined by more of it's kind. More and more swarmed, as Natsu made a mad dash to the center of the forest.

Reaching it, the sun had finally set, and he realized there was no more time.

He pulled out his blade again, from the massive sheat on his back, and prepared, as the shadows manifested again.

Countless, forming black skulls and bones, spirits twistead by their desire to finally leave this world through the object that Natsu held on his person.

One-handing the massive blade, he pulled from beneath the cloak, a necklance with a jewel on it. It was a red diamond, filled with magical power to the brim, it's use unknown. But Natsu knew one thing, and that was that these things wanted it, and he wasn't planning on giving it to them.

Smirking, he challenged them, pulling the jewel to view.

"You want this? Well then...That's just too bad isn't it?"

As they charged at him, he swung his sword.

It was going to be a long night, like all the other's before it.


	2. Chapter 2

The Mercenary

Chapter 2

It had indeed been a long night.

As the sun rose to the sky, casting away the rain clouds and letting it's light touch the earth, the large trees blocked it out from reaching the forest's floor. Not a single ray of sunlight reached the earth, except in center of the forest.

The trees in the forest hadn't all made it the night, in the end.

In the very heart of the forest, the once unfazing trees, intimidating in their age, size and resistance to any and all calamities, became nothing but splinters.

Resting against an old oak, littered in cuts made by a large sword, was the very same traveller, who panted heavily. The night had passed, and he had survived despite the odds.

Like he always did.

'Normally they come once a week... but around these parts, with so many restless dead I'd be lucky to get three days free.'

His head coming back on the trunk of the tree, he stared at the sky, searching for a sign that the night had ended, that the nightmare had passed.

It was then that he saw it.

A long ray of sunlight, bathing easily the largest tree trunk in the clearing, of a tree of monstrous size, a diameter of 5 meters, cut cleanly with a single swing.

Natsu grimanced. Heavy wounds on his body, but to him, they were but scratches. He was used to worse. And now, it was back to travelling, until they showed up again, stronger than last time.

'I survived this one... But will I survive the next one?' He gave the lingering thought a pause, to mull over the idea, before snorting at the thought.

'Of course I will.' rang clear within his head.

And he would keep going, no matter the changes that take place, no matter the battles he will fight. Because that's his one and only thing to follow.

Survival.

Because he promised to her.

Or...

His hand clenched so tight on the handle of the blade, that it started bleeding from the sheer pressure. Teeth clenched, grinding against one another, as his eyes burned with rage, the scar on his face starting to burn horribly, as he remembered.

'That damn THING!'

His mind roared with a primal manifestation of his rage, as outside his eyes screwed shut, the bleeding from his hand increasing. Numerous wounds started itching, as his left fist banged powerfully against the tree he rested on.

It was then that he heard them, the very same words that rang into his head everytime he remembered.

'Promise me... Promise me Natsu!'

He exhaled loudly, cursing himself for his weakness.

Ignoring his wounds, he rose from his slouch, and walked a shabby two steps, before he was back to his usual march. He looked at the cloak, stained deeply with his blood from the unforgiving last night.

A city was close, and he'd need to get cleaned before entering it, nobody just went into a city drenched in blood, even if it was their own. It caused problems, that he had no time to deal with.

For one second, he stood completely still, not moving, not even breathing, as he pushed his magic to his ears, gradually increasing their range of effectivness.

Then, he stopped, hearing the sound he so desperately wanted to hear, and tuning out anything else. About a kilometer to his right, he heard a small stream of running water.

He turned around, not wasting a single movement, and continued his march in that direction, his mind fogged by earlier thoughts.

Reaching it in a matter of minutes, he stripped to his underwear, washing the rest of the clothes in the river, leaving a trail of blood down-stream.

Taking them out after realising that they are completely clean, he pulled them out, and layed them one after the other, heating each one of them gradually with his magic.

While doing so, he placed one hand on his wounds, and burned them, closing and purifying at the same time, in a show of his control over his flames.

Despite their never-ending hunger, he still could keep them at bay.

Finishing both jobs at the same time, he got dressed, and started walking down-stream.

He figured that, since he came from the closest settlement near the lower east coast, up-stream, south, he wouldn't find anything, and he also remembered from his travel to this place, of the city closest by, from which he followed the road towards Ignis, which was...

Magnolia.

'Pass.'

As much as he liked Magnolia as a city, he didn't want to meet them anytime soon.

And to a man who spends all his time in the road, what's one more day of travel?

Well, either that, or try soing south-west and try to reach Margret Town, but most likely get caught by the knights there, since he was a wanted man there.

And his food supplies were none at all, lost in last night's frenzy.

So, he could either go straight to Magnolia, go hungry, or go to Hargeon and go with the train from there.

And then it clicked, the fact that he did have a job in Hargeon. A failure of a light mage turned dark, who was to be removed by the guild he had abandoned, so he didn't further stain their name.

And it just happened that his target should be there.

It was the beginning of April, and he was sure that the target would be there, trying to take advantage from the extra tourists who wanted to see Hargeon in this time of the year, and force as many slaves as he could in his grasp, then bid them off fast.

His facial expression didn't change, but his speed rose ever-so-slightly.

By his estimations, it'd be about an hour until he reached Hargeon.

Going back to his flashback, he started thinking again, of the promise he made...

Shaking his head, he cleared it before thinking of the job at hand. It should be pretty hard, since an entire guild didn't have anybody good enough to send to take care of this guy.

Smirking, his eyes seemed to light up at the prospect of a challenge.

'This is shaping up to be pretty fun, isn't it?'

 _ **~Later that day~**_

Borra was a happy man.

The grin on his face did nothing to disprove that statement.

Looking into his ship, proudly gleaming over his most recent catch, lured in by the promise of a party, all beauties and in large numbers, he would enjoy himself using them if he could. But then again, merchandise was sold better if untouched, so maybe he'd keep one for him, and one for the men?

'Who knows? Maybe I'll keep them all to myself!'

His lecherous thoughts aside, this was a good catch, and he couldn't be happier. He'd decide what happens to each and every single one of them.

But before he could uncork a bottle of wine, and relish more into the moment, he was intrerrupted by one of the hired muscle.

"Bora, we made a presence call on the ship... 3 of our men are missing.'

It was a simple statement, nothing complex, but it's implications were troubling. On such a mission, planned ahead for a large amount of time, for someone on miss right after they'd get the spoils was simply unheard of.

Which was why he was afraid, afraid of what might happen to him, and the operation.

'Relax! It's just a catch like the usual, nothing's going to go to shit.'

Outwardly, he tapped one of his rings, the charm ring, 3 times before answering.

"It's just three men, maybe they got drunk and fell overboard. There were all of us when we left, and nobody could have gotten in on the ship at the time, or now. Look for them, and if you find them on the ship, good for them. If you don't, more spoils for you." Bora shrugged casually, trying to put on a facade of calmness, even when inside he was a mess.

Just as the man was about to leave, another burst through, and turning to the hired muscle, he gave his report.

"Captain! We're missing 8 of our men now, and they are starting to get anxious."

The two listeners were both shocked. From 3 to 8!?

If they didn't believe it before, now they surely knew something was happening on the ship. It was then that it happened.

The screams started.

It began with a single man, young, by the sound of his voice, before it was silenced. And then the rest followed, one after the other.

Screams of despair, pain and fear echoed on the ship, through all of the rooms, reaching them, and sending shivers down their spines.

And then they stopped.

An uneasy silence took place of the screams, as nothing could be heard, except for the men's desperate breathing.

Just as Bora was about to send the younger muscle to check what it was, through the open door, a sword had been sent flying.

It impaled the man through his chest, as he and the captain watched as the life in the man's eyes faded away, blood bursting through his mouth, before he collapsed into a heap onto the floor.

Behind him, it appeared. IT, because both men refused to call it human.

Dressed in a bloody cloak, no face visible, all they could see was the fire in the man's eyes glowing at them, from behind the hood.

There were no words, as the being pulled out the sword from the young man's body, and flicked it to get rid of the blood.

And then it turned it's attention to them.

Bora didn't hesitate, whether it was fear that made him do that, shock, or any other emotion, it didn't matter.

He launched a carpet of flames at the thing, that devoured him full.

Exhaling a breath he didn't know he was holding, the cold sweat started retreating, as the captain turned around to clap him onto the back.

He never had the chance, as a long chain escaped from the fire, and tied itself onto the man's arm, the sizzling sound of flesh being burnt from the hot iron echoing into the room along with his screams.

A sword rose from the wall of fire, and then the beast.

He caught the captain by the neck with his left hand, the hand that had the chain attached, looked at him for a mere second, and then broke his neck without a second thought.

The captain's limp body fell onto the floor of the ship, like a puppet whose strings were cut.

Bora stumbled backwards.

"P-Please! t-Tell me what you want! Women, money, contacts, I got it all just p-please spare me!"

The monster was already upon him, as the blade it wielded was stuck into his shoulder, piercing it and the wall behing it, Bora's yell of mercy being the last thing heard onto the ship.

The fire took ahold of the ship, and with no one to stop it, it quickly devoured the wood, and slowly made it's way to the fuel conpartments.

The man left, the one who slayed the men, only cast a single, wordless spell onto the ship, as a large purple circle appeared above it.

And in the next second, there was only a ship and a fire.

 _ **~A few seconds later~**_

The cold air of the night hit him, a sharp contrast compared to the fiery insides of the ship. Looking into the distance, towards the sea, he stared at the exploding ship, as the light could be seen across Hargeon.

Then he looked aroung himself, surrounded by women.

In the end, he had cast a large, but fairly simple spell onto the ship.

A teleportation spell that implied, teleportation of anything alive, on a surface of 200 squared meters to a location that would be marked before. It worked fairly well, as all women were safely on the beach.

As much of a monster as he had become, he refused to make innocents suffer for nothing but being caught in the cross-fire.

Sighing, he turned around and left running, because by the size of the explosion the rune knights would be here far too quick for his liking.

Dashing into the city, he dissapeared into the night.


End file.
